Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting

A captivating investigation into the complexities of memory formation, the causes of forgetting, and strategies for safeguarding memories, presented by the neuroscientist with Harvard training and best-selling book Still Alice.

When you go into a room and forget why you went there in the first place, or when you can't for the life of you recall the name of the star in the movie you saw last week, have you ever experienced a crushing sense of panic? Most people over forty probably don't laugh. You may even be concerned that these memory loss may be a precursor to dementia or Alzheimer's. In actuality, these instances of forgetfulness are quite common for the great majority of us. Why? Because although memory is incredible, it is far from flawless. Not every name we hear, decision we make, or day we have is meant to be retained by our minds. Your memory isn't damaged or dying just because you occasionally lose it. It's true that humans are capable of forgetting.

Neuroscientist and celebrated novelist Lisa Genova explores the process of memory formation and retrieval in her book Remember. You will discover if the memories you have forgotten are lost forever or are only meant to endure a few seconds, such as a password, and why other memories, like your wedding day, are meant to last a lifetime. You will learn to recognize the obvious difference between Alzheimer's-related forgetting (where you parked your car) and typical forgetting (that you own a car). You'll also see how important context, meaning, emotion, stress, and sleep are to memory. Understanding the language of memory and how it works, its amazing qualities and frustrating flaws, its innate shortcomings and potential superpowers, will help you both recall things better and be less alarmed when you do forget things. You can improve your connection with your memory by establishing reasonable expectations for it. It is no longer anything to be afraid of. And it has the power to alter lives.